Terminal connecter for electrical supply cables



June 5, 1928. 1,672,201

A. CHAMPION TERMINAL CONNEC'IER FOR ELECTRICAL SUPPLY CABLES Filed May 18. 1921 Sheets-Sheet 1 lvwwtoz C [/Zezt (22171 1010 Y June 5, 1928.

v A. CHAMPION TERMINAL CONNECTER FOR ELECTRICAL SUPPLY CABLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 18,. 1921 Patented June 5, 1 928.

UNITED STAT 1,672,201 ICE.

ALBERT CHAMPION, or FLINT, MICHIGAN, ssIGnoiztfro C Sam; PLUG COMPANY, or

FLINT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION-0E MICHIGAN.

TERMINAL GONNECTER ron ELEOTRICAL SUPBLY CABLES.

Application filed my 18,

My invention relates to terminal connecters designed for attaching a conductingwire or cable to a terminal of a device tov which electricity is to be supplied, and par ticularly to terminalconnecters designed for use in'connection'with the ignition system of internal combustion engines 'to supply high tension Current to the spark plugs whereby the combustible mixture supplied to the engine is ignited within the cylinder thereof. I

' The principal object of my invention is to provide an improved terminal connecter.

of the general type above-referred to Comprising a base portion secured to the end of the supply cable, and having jaws extending beyond the ends of the cable and adapted to grasp a terminal with which the cable is to be connected; the jaws being materially shorter than has heretoforecommonly been the case and thesame being substantially non-resilient, the yielding of the jaws as-the connecter is connected with ordisconnected from the terminal being due to the resiliency of the insulating covering of the cable. It therefore follows that the jaws themselves are not resilient to any material degree .as has heretofore commonly been the case, and that the base portion of the connecter yields upon or relative to the insulating covering of the cable to thereby permit the slight movement apart of the jaws during the at tachment of the cable to and. its removal from the terminal of the device to which electricity is supplied.

A further object of invention isto provide an improved terminal connecter of the typereferred to which may be readily and cheaply manufactured fromsheet metal by approved cutting and shaping processes, and in which the base portion of the connecter when assembled in place upon the end of the leading in conductor or cable embraces I and grasps the resilient j'covering thereof; and wherein the parts of the connecter-will be yieldably held in proper co-operative-relationship with one another by the resilient -action of the insulating covering of the.

cable.

A further object of my invention is to pro vide a terminal connecter of the general type above referred to in which the jaws which are comparatively rigid, and are integral with "the base portionof the connecter, are flat and of considerable area and are ar- 1921. Serial m}. vogs'ze.

proved terminal coiiiiecter illustrated in its preferred form in theaccompanyingdrawings, and hereinafter described and claimed; and in such variations and modifications thereof, within the scope of the concluding claims, as will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which my invention relates.

Referring now to the drawings which form a part of this specification-z Figure l is a perspective view showing an electric supply. conductor or cable connected with the central'electrode or terminal of a spark plug by means of my improved terminal connector.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the two parts which together form my improved one antwo parts which form the terminal connecter shown in Figure 3 apart from the cable,-

and separated from one another as in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing another form of my improved connecting de-" vlce.

Figure 6 is a view showing still another form thereof omitted.

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 but showing another form of my invention.

Figure 8 is a perspective view showing another form of my improved connecting device in which all the parts thereof are integral, the same as in Figure 5.

Figure 9 is a view showing another form in perspective, the cable being of my improved connecter in perspective, the

grasping jaws being so arranged as to overlie and cross one another.

Figure 10 is a perspective view showing the two parts which makeup theconnecting member shown in Figure 9 by themselves,

and apart from theconducting cable.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, an

electrical supply cable having a metallic conducting core 11 and: an insulating covering made from a yieldable material such as from a rubber composition,"as is usual in thehigh tension cables through which electricity is supplied to the spark plugs of internal com-.

bustionengines.

ing in cable is a terminal connecter comprising two similar metallic members 13, 14 made from suitable sheet metal blanks of proper form, and so shaped as to provide semi-circular base portions 15, 16 which embrace the free end of the supply cable and 15 minal is secured in place thereupon; the ingrasp the insulation thereof when the tersulating covering being ordinarily held in a more or less compressed. condition by the base formed by the portions 15, 16 in order that: the resilience of the same may be imparted to the connecter and act to yieldably hold the jaws thereof in proper position relative to one another. The members 13, 14 are provided with jaw portions 17 18 which, when the terminal is secured in place upon'the end of the cable, extend beyond the end of the cable as clearly shown in the drawings; and which jaws are substantially rigid with the base portion of the terminal connecter made up by the semi-circular portions 15, 16 above referred to; so that as the jaws move apart in attaching the terminal to or detaching the same from the terminal 19 of a spark plug 20 the movement of the jaws"towardf "andrfrom oneanother will be communicated to the base-portion of the connecter and will be resiliently-opposed by the resilience of the insulating covering of the cable. 1

The members 13. 14 in Figures 1 and 2 are shown as fastened together by means'of lugs;

or tongues 21 of one member which extend through slots 22 of the other member, the lugs and slots being located adjacent the meeting side edges of the base portion of said members. The base portion of the con.- necter may, however, comprise a single piece of suitable metal, as shown in Figures 5," 6'and 8; and the sti-fi'ness of the metal from which the connecter is made may be relied upon to hold the same in place upon the end of the cable as in the form of my invention illustrated in Figure 8, in which case no separate fastening means is necessary for fastening the free edges of the base I portion of the connecter. together.

1 The members 13, 14 which form .the terminal connecter in Figures 1 and 2 are shown as provided with spurs 23 struck up from the metal of the base, and forced inwardly through the insulating covering so as to cause the free extremity of said spurs to engage the conductingeore 11 of the cable; thus providing an electrical or conducting connection between the core and the metallie base so that electricity may flow from the core to the connecter, and from thence to position, which is a construction in which Secured in place upon the end of the lead-- the point of the spur is less likelyto miss the core than would be the case if it was dis posedparallel therewith, as has heretofore commonly been the case.

While the covering 12 is referred to as resilient, the same does not have to be perfectly resilient as a covering which will yield to permit a slight movement of the base, due to'movement'of the jaws toward and from one another, is regarded as coming within the "scope of my invention; as the base portion of the connecter acts'by itself to yieldably hold the jaws in proper relation,

to one another especially in the single piece forms of my invention altho a better'holding action is secured if the insulating covering is resilient to a pronounced degree, and is placed under a condition of considerable initial tension during the assembling of'the connecter upon and the securing of the same to theend of the cable, which operationlmay be accomplished by theuse of a press or other suitable device.

In another form of my invention shown in Figure 3 the end of the leading in cable made up'of a core 24 and an insulating cov-. j erin'g 25 is grasped by the base of a terml- I nal connecter comprising/base portions 26, 27 held together by interengaging tongues and grooves 28, .in substantially the same way as in the form illustrated in Figures 1 and In this form of my invention, however, the rigid jaws 30, 31 of the connecter are bent to one side of the cable, and are so which fits over the end '19 of the plug electrode orterminal thereby enclosing the upper end of the same as. distinguished from graspingthe sides "of an'ext-endin'g portion shaped as to i'orni a sort of a socket or cap of the terminal 'as'is the. case in the form of my invention firstv herein-described. I In the form of my invention illustrated in Figure 5 the terminal connecter is. made" from a single piece blank bent into proper form, and having abase portion 32 which I surrounds and is clamped in place during the assembling of the terminal upon the in sulating covering 33 of the leading in cable;

the meeting side edges of the base being provided with a tongue 34 which extends.

through a slot 35 tothereby hold-the base firmly clasped about and in permanent engagement with the insulating covering of the cable. The. jaws 36, 37 extend beyond the end of the cable and are rigid with the base,

.so as to communicate such movement as is iao I the central electrode of the spark plug 38 to the base and insulating covering the cable.

In this form of my invention, however,

the jaws 356, 37' are arranged edgewise with relation to a grooved nut 39upon the plug terminal,'and within the groove of which a the said jaws lie when a connection isxmade; the plane offthe jaws being thus at r ght,

angles tothe axis of the plug electrode or terminal'with which the device is connected,

This arrangement of the jaws provides a l stiffer connector, and one in which the move ment of the jaws is more certainly communi cated to the base thereof, than is the case where the jaws are arranged so that their width is parallel with the plug'terminal or substantially so as in the form illustratedin Figure 1;'in1wh ich form'the bending is .re-

sisted by a-thin'flat wall as distinguished from bya portion arranged edgewise to the bending force, as'is the case .in the form of my invention shown in Figures 5 to 9, 1n-

clusi've. In Figure 5 the electrical connection between the metallic conducting core 40 and the connecter is established by a lugAlhaving ahole through which the end of the core extends, the core and ,the lug being soldered together if deemed necessary-or.

desirable.

4 In the form of-my invention shown in F ig-. ure6 the terminal. connecter is also made from a single sheet metal blank bent into proper form. In thisform, however,'the free edges of the base areheldtogether, and the ter-f minal as a whole held in position upon the end of the supply cable, by means of a double pointed staple42 extending through slots 43 formed adjacent the meeting edges of the base 44 of the connecter; and the points or prongs of which staple extend through the insulating covering of the cable and estab-.

lish contact with the conducting. core 'thereof; so that thestaple performs the double function of holding the meeting edges of the base together and the connecter as a whole in place upon the supply cable, and

also establishing an electrical connection becore "of the cable andtween the conducting the connecter. V v

Figure 7 shows a form of my invention in which a connecter is made up of two like.

' 4 members havin base portions 45, 46 which grasp the insu ating covering of-a supply cable, and which members are held togetherv by tongues 47, one upon each member, extending through slots 48. adjacent the edges of the other member much as in the form of my invention shown in Figures 1 and 2 so faras regards the securing of the connecter to. the cable. The jaws 49, 50 are arranged edgewise relative to the terminal with which they are connected as in Figures 5 and 6,

. instead of flatwise and parallel with the axis of the connecter as in the form of my invention shown in Figures 1 and 2.

I Figure 8 is a view showing a form of my invention in which the connecter"- is made from a metal blank having suflicient inherent st iflness to retain the condition into which it is forcedduring the assembling ply cable, and with the insulation thereof .under compression, and in which as a consequence 'no independent fastening means is provided for securing the meeting edges ofthe base portion 53 of the connecter in proper grasping and"holding engagement of the connecter upon the end of the supwith the insulating covering 54 of the suppl'ycable. The jaws 55 are rigid with the base as in forms of my'inventions hereinbefore described so that thebase itself acts to oppose movement of the jaws away from 'over the surface of the insulation before the connecter is put in place, so that the interior surface of the base contacts with the turned back wires of the core'to thereby establish electrical connection between the parts, the bent back ends of the core wires being shown at 57.. This same method of establishing.

an electrical connection between the cable core and the connecter is also employed in the forms of myinvention shownin 'Figures 3. and 9.-

Figure 9 shows a of my invention in which a terminal connecter ismade up .from two -members of the form shown 'in Figure 10 the base portions 58 of which grasp andhold the free endof the insulating covering 59 between them in astate of com-' terial beneath andgrasped by the base-acts resiliently to resist movement ofthe jaw's 60, 60 apart.

The base members are fastened pr'ession, so that: the body 'otinsulating'ma- I together by tongues 61 extending through slots 62 as hereinbefore explained, andthe jaws are rigidwith the members which together form the base so as to communicate motion to the base as the jaws moveapart,

the same as hereinbefore explained. In this form of my invention, however, the blanks used in forming the separate members are of such form that the jaws overlie and ex tend past one another in the completed con-- necter, as clearly shown, which is a form in which movement of the jaws is somewhat;

more effectively communicatedv .to the base members than in forms illustrated in F igures 5 to 8 inclusive wherein the jaws extend alongside'one another, but do not cross. u Having thus described and explained my invention, I claim anddesire to secure by Letters Patent:

two-parts embracing saidinsulating covering and capable of slight movement relatively to core, and a resilient insulating covering surrounding said core; a connecting device comprising a metallic base portion made up of one another; two substantially rigid ,metallic jaws formed integrally with said base and adapted to yield because of the resiliency of said insulating covering, andwhich jaws e X- tend onefrom each of the parts of said base portion and beyond the end of said cable and are so shaped as to grasp a terminal; means whereby said base portion is electrically connected with said conducting core; and members formed integrally with the parts aforesaid of said base portion and adapted to engage and interlock with one another to thereby hold said base po'rtion in place upon said insulating covering. 4

2. In a terminal connecter and in combination with 'a supply cable having a metallic core, and aresilient insulating covering surrounding said core; a connecting device comprising a metallic baseportion made up-of tallic jaws iormed integrally with said baseand adapted to yield becauseof the resiland members i ency of said'insulating coveringyand which I aws extend one from. each of the vparts of ,said base portion beyond the end of saidcable, and are so shaped as to grasp a terminal, and are fiat, and arranged edgewise relative to the terminal to be grasped; mean's whereby said base portion is electrically con nected with said conducting core'; and members formed integrally with the parts aforesaid of said base and arranged at the sides of said *parts, and adjacent pairs. of which members are adapted to engage and interlock with one another to thereby hold said parts in place upon said insulating covering.

3. In a terminal connecter and in combination with a supply cable having a metallic core, and an insulating covering surrounding said core; a connecting device comprising a metallic base portion made up of two parts which clasp the insulating covering' atthe' end of said cable, and are capable of slight movement relative to one another,

integrally with the parts aforesaid of said base and arformed ranged at the-sides of said parts, and adjacent pairs of which members are adapted to engage and interlock with one another to thereby. hold said partsin place upon said insulating covering.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature ALBERT CHAMPION. 

